"Hertha inflict serious blow on Leverkusen's Champions League ambitions with a 2-0 victory," is the summary in kicker online. "The Berliners shocked the initially very dominant Werkself by taking the lead out of the blue," added the sports journal, and said that Bayer 04 "were frustrated by a brilliant defensive performance from their opponents."
The Werkself are at least praised for the opening stages of the game. "In the first quarter of an hour, it looked as if the team under coach Peter Bosz had travelled to the Olympic Stadium with enough confidence," analysed the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. "Hertha were struggling to prevent the Werkself creating good chances on goal. But with the opening strike they pulled the plug on Bayer 04."
RP Online provides a similar description of the unfortunate course of the first 25 minutes at the Olympic Stadium. The journal tributes "motivated" to the "start by the visitors with threats particularly coming from their wingers Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey. The best chances in a good start to the game fell to Kai Havertz (5') and Kevin Volland (6')." However, then there is the big but: "The fact the Werkself did not take their chances came back to haunt them. Matheus Cunha rounded off the first really successful move by Hertha to make it 1-0 (22') – Bayer keeper Lucas Hradecky stood no chance with the shot from 14 metres out."
The rest of the match draws the following analysis from FAZ: "Hertha were very defensive after taking the lead and worked hard to close space down. Leverkusen moved well up to the box but the final pass often went astray." The assessment is therefore short and succinct: "The Berliners were more effective than Leverkusen."
The WELT AM SONNTAG provides a remarkable fact in the unfortunate performance by the Werkself: "Bayer 04 Leverkusen failed to score in the Bundesliga for the first time since the 1-0 defeat earlier in the season against Hertha. The Werkself have only lost both games this season against the team from Berlin."
There is now only a glimmer of hope for next Saturday due to the opponents’ performance highly praised by the media. "Ahead of the final matchday, Bayer must hope for the next step forward for Berlin," writes the EXPRESS. "As Hertha are then away to Champions League rivals Gladbach."
The BILD am Sonntag clearly states the position before the final matchday: "Leverkusen have to win (against Mainz), and Gladbach lose (against Hertha)." The tabloid does show another route to the Champions League for the Werkself: "Or: Leverkusen win the Europa League in August. As the winners automatically qualify for the Champions League."
A fresh look for the BayArena: The Bayer 04 stadium will have new seating in the form of folding seats for the 2026/27 campaign that will ensure significantly improved seating comfort and simplified movement within the rows of seats. As part of routine replacement after 17 years, fans of the Werkself were able to purchase the existing seats, used to witness the first German league title in the club's history. In addition, a large proportion of the seats will be donated to charitable projects, primarily in the local region. Bayer 04 fans can look forward to new, functional folding seats for the season opener at the beginning of August - still in the club colours of black and red, of course. A glimpse at the BayArena during the refurbishment.
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On Monday evening, 8 June, around 250 people came to the Bürgerhaus Baumberg at the invitation of Bayer 04 to find out details of the new plans for the campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße at an information event. More compact, greener and with many advantages for Monheim am Rhein - those are the aims. There were lively discussions for around three hours and some misunderstandings were cleared up.
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Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and Bayer 04 loanee Francis Onyeka are part of Germany's final squad for the U19 European Championships this summer. The tournament is in Wales from 24 June to 12 July.
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When Malik Tillman arrived at Bayer 04 Leverkusen from PSV Eindhoven last summer, he did more than just add attacking midfield strength to the team — he reconnected the club with a unique and understated American lineage that stretches back more than three decades.
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Bayer 04 are away to third-division club SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal. That was the outcome of the draw on Saturday night, 6 June, at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. The Werkself first round tie will be played between 21 and 24 August. The exact date has yet to be finalised.
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